Great Skills. Real Opportunities Info.

"Great Skills. Real Opportunities" is the new system in
place in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector and is designed to
help people get the skills they need to find a job and progress further in their
chosen career. It is part of the government's "Certificate III Guarantee"
program.

It provides eligible students with:

# an entitlement to government subsidised
training up to and including Certificate III level
# government funding for higher level courses (Certificate IV and above) in
targeted priority areas
# fee-free training for Yr 12 graduates in high priority qualifications

To be eligible for "Great
Skills. Real Opportunities" funding, you need to:

# be aged 15-64 years

# have left school and have no previous
qualification at Certificate III level or
higher

# live or work in Queensland

# be an Australian citizen, permanent
resident or humanitarian visa holder

# be able to meet course entry
requirements

Are you eligible? Check now and find out.

What Courses are Available?

There is a wide range of subsidised courses available in most industry areas.
The available courses fall into a range of categories including:

# foundation skills courses and lower-level courses, which are funded to
support the Certificate 3
Guarantee qualifications
# Certificate 3 Guarantee qualifications
# qualifications available for Year 12 graduate fee-free participation
# qualifications within the Higher Level Skills Program (i.e. those
qualifications subsidised at the
AQF Level IV and higher).

You can search for available courses by using the Course Finder:

Who Can I Study With?

There are a large number of training providers accredited to
deliver courses under "Great Skills. Real
Opportunities". TAFE is obviously a big one, but there
are many others too. You can also search to see what training providers are
available in your area.

How Much do Courses Cost?

Each course costs a different amount
depending on the type of course and the level of qualification, however, under
"Great Skills. Real Opportunities" the amount you will pay for each course will be the same at
every training provider - ie: every provider must charge the same amount for a
certain course as every other provider delivering that same course.

You will only have to pay a portion of the
total course cost (the rest is paid by the Government). To get an estimate of
what you would have to pay for courses you are interested in, you can look at
this document. (Note: This
only gives you an estimation - you need to talk to the actual course provider to
get an exact amount).

Fee-Tree Training for Year 12 Graduates:

Year 12 graduates can access fee-free
training in high priority areas if they start training with an approved training
provider within a year of leaving school. High priority qualifications are
qualifications which provide training in the skills most needed by employers and
industry.

# have completed Year 12 in Queensland and
hold a Senior Statement issued by the Queensland
Studies Authority (or the 'Queensland Curriculum and Assessment
Authority' which replaced the
Queensland Studies Authority from 1 July 2014) or equivalent
certificate that confirms you have
completed Year 12 in Queensland
# enrol and start training with an approved training provider by the end of the
calendar year
following the completion of Year 12
# live permanently in Queensland.

Once you find a course you are interested in, the best thing to do is to
contact the provider of that course and speak to them about the enrolment
process. You should also ask them to tell you exactly what the course will cost
you and also if there are any concessions or exemptions available to you.

You will also need to have a "Unique Student Identifier" (USI) - this is a
bit like an account number made up of letters and numbers and is allocated to you.
It is used to identify you when undertaking any
vocational training from the start of 2015. You must have this Unique Student
Identifier before you
can commence any courses. If you don't already have one, you can create one at
www.usi.gov.au .
The video
below gives and overview of the USI, why you need it and what it is for (click
to play):

Concessions and Exemptions:

There are fee concessions and exemptions available to some students such as
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI), students with disabilities and
students receiving welfare benefits.

You should talk to the training provider of your
proposed course to see what might be available to you.